Teeming with hardboiled private dicks steeped in alcohol and battered by billy clubs, and with lean fedora-clad gumshoes propped in the penumbras of lonely lampposts, casing leggy dames holding dark secrets, the noir genre has obsessed writers and directors from Raymond Chandler to Stanley Kubrick. Think Bogey and Bacall, Spade and Marlowe.

For three Sunday nights, and three nights only, Dead End Nights celebrates these wizened dramas in all their sordid glory with a series of radio plays, lectures and secret screenings of mystery flicks. The series opens Sunday, June 15, with James Reich’s lecture Real Literature of America. Author of the novels Bombshell and I, Judas, Reich is a specialist in the form who’ll share his insights about noir’s influence on modern literature. Opening night also includes the radio play Lugdunum Falls, written and performed by Brianna Stallings and Marya Errin Jones, as well as a screening of an undisclosed B-movie. Head down to Tannex (1417 Fourth Street SW) on this strip of old Route 66 to catch the gigs: June 15, 22 and 29, 6pm. $5. Visit thetannex.com for more info. Tannex • Sun Jun 15 • 6-9:30pm • $5 • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar

Do you get misty for those halcyon days of 1982, when you were a giant space wasp hell-bent on picking your way through the enemy’s defenses and destroying their cannon before it destroyed you? Even if you weren’t born yet, the game Yars’ Revenge kindles this need within you.

Luckily, tomorrow night, the Tannex is hosting a Yars’ Revenge event. Swing by 1417 Fourth Street SW after 8pm. For $5 you get to manhandle the joysticks of two Atari Flashback systems in any of 64 classic games, including Asteroids, Centipede, Pitfall!, Breakout and possibly the single most embarrassing video game of all time, Video Checkers. (Kidding, of course; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has that “honor.”)

Live electronica completes the evening, courtesy of local acts Huron Valley Listening Club, Lenn Cicada and Meta Vaux. While waiting your turn to settle that 30-year Galaga grudge match with your sister, you can fight over who has to be P2 next time, or plan a field trip to the Atari landfill excavation we hear is launching in Alamogordo on April 26. Tannex • Sat Apr 19 • 8pm • $5 • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar

If you fucking love science—or graphic novels—or wildly successful self-funded publishing projects—then Elizabeth Haidle is someone you should probably meet. The Taos-based illustrator jets down to Barelas tomorrow to read from and sign Mind Afire: The Visions of Nikola Tesla at 7pm. You know Tesla—the revolutionary wunderkind of electricity whose A/C (alternating current) famously battled against and eventually won out over Thomas Edison’s inferior D/C (direct current) for world domination. And who invented those lightning-spitting Tesla coil things. And who died broke and talking to pigeons. What I’m saying is, it’s a helluva story. Concocted in partnership with west-coast author/editor Abigail Samoun, Mind Afire is an 80-page full-color graphic novel bankrolled entirely by a blockbuster crowdfunding campaign. Come to the Tannex (1417 Fourth Street SW) to hear about the talented minds and business savvy that gave rise to the book. Stay for the irresistible charm of Brave New Burro, whose quirky brass melodies travel through time and space to bring you a sound that’s as delightful as it is unexpected. All this for just a five-shekel suggested donation. Tannex • Fri Mar 14 • 7pm • $5 suggested donation • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar

Dirty Zine Reading

It’s feelin’ hot in here, so take out all your zines and head on down to the Dirty Zine Reading tomorrow, brought to you by the upcoming third annual ABQ Zine Fest. It’ll be a night of DIY debauchery, featuring raunchy readings from local sex-positive zinesters of all stripes, guaranteed to get your pulse racing and your britches itchin’ for some action. Feel like gettin’ funky? Get up and dance to sexy music with house band Wet Medicine. Who knew Sundays could be this delightfully sinful? Doors open at 8pm at The Tannex in Barelas (1417 Fourth Street SW). This is gonna be a wicked sexxxy event, so no kids please. Admission is a $5-to-$10 sliding scale, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. For more information, visit abqzinefest.com. Tannex • Sun Sep 15 • 8 pm • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar

Dan Gottwald/Analogous Ensemble

Artist Dan Gottwald describes his Analogous Ensemble as “a group of gracefully formed 'sculptures' made of wood, metal and fiber, with which players interact to produce sound.” This isn't the first time he's presented the ensemble locally, but iterations of this work are bound to be pretty darn anomalous. Gottwald explains that the sculptures' forms enhance focus on the visual and tactile nature of the whole's parts. The ensemble's free improvisation process follows a “loosely designated structure provided by a prose score/narrative evoking the different parts of and ideas associated with a tree.” See (and hear) the forest for the trees at The Tannex (1417 Fourth Street SW) on tonight. The aural arboreal happening begins at 6 p.m., and the free, all-ages performance ain't over 'til the Log Lady sings—or 8 p.m. Tannex • Sat Jul 20 • 6 pm • $5 • View on Alibi calendar

Do you love hot ham water and cornballs? If so, then you know Netflix finally lets loose the new season of “Arrested Developmet” today. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Albuquerque’s Tannex (1417 Fourth Street SW) will host the “100% Good Time Family Viewing Solution or Family Love Michael” event. Wear your cuttoffs, feast on frozen bananas and watch as much “Arrested Development” as organizers can cram into a single night. The festivities start at 7 p.m. But no touching!